Thursday, February 14, 2013

Streaks Of Snow Around Town

Many spots last night picked up between one and two and a half inches of snow around the region -- not a bad total at all given the dynamics involved and the potential to surprise and disappoint. The Airport was one of the lower totals in the area but many spots outside of the city picked up higher snowfall totals from this event -- notice Vineland getting the highest in this event at three inches in our immediate area.

The event was a three to five hour precipitation thump, producing some steady snowfall rates that reached an inch an hour in spots between 8 and 10:30, mainly within heavier banding of snow. You can see the advancement and enhancing of precipitation between 6 PM (first radar below) and 9 PM, as the mid level and surface system responsible for this intensified over the region. Rain, which initially fell, transitioned over to snow between 6 and 7 PM northwest and between 7 and 9 in much of the rest of the region. It took until after 9 at the Shore.

In some of the steadier and heavier areas of precipitation, thunder was heard in a few spots...sometimes with rain or snow depending on location. The dynamics with the system were such that there was enough pop to get some thunder and lightning within the atmosphere.

All in all, it wasn't a bad event in MOST places. The city and Shore probably struggled the most on getting snow to stick as temperatures were milder in both locations, although some locations within the city probably picked up closer to an inch and a half (mostly Mount Airy, Germantown, your elevated areas).